Barclays ends final salary pension plan June 3, 2009 BARCLAYS told staff yesterday that it is to close its final salary pension scheme, prompting a furious response from unions, who accused the bank of stabbing its employees in the back. The bank said it was closing the scheme as a result of the mounting cost of financing pensions for some 18,000 staff. Members of [...]
Meet the oil man who is toughing out the harsh new era of low prices May 31, 2009 THE CHIEF executive of oil services business Wood Group Allister Langlands is in remarkably relaxed mood for a man who has seen oil plummet from $147 (£91) a barrel last July to around $65 currently, with all the mothballing of lucrative new projects a slump like that brings. The Aberdeen-based firm may have posted an [...]
Falling bond yields cheer Wall Street May 28, 2009 US stocks climbed more than 1 per cent yesterday as higher oil prices drove up energy shares and falling yields in the bond market eased concerns that higher borrowing costs would hinder economic recovery. Energy company shares, including Exxon Mobil, rose as US crude oil settled above $65 a barrel for its highest close since [...]
Don’t be spooked by inflation: there are ways to protect your portfolio August 15, 2008 Clever investors can protect themselves from the worst effects of rising prices, says Esther Shaw Figures out last week showed that inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), jumped to 4.4 per cent in July, more than double the Government’s 2 per cent target. On other measures, the figure is [...]
Tui Travel bookings beat the slowdown August 15, 2008 Tui Travel, Europe’s largest travel operator, said holiday booking continued to be robust as customers were not prepared to forgo their summer holiday despite the credit crunch. Chief executive Peter Long said the group’s “power brands” – Thomson in the UK and Tui in Germany – were holding up well in the economic climate. “It [...]
Smurfit profits rise despite higher costs August 12, 2008 Shares in Smurfit Kappa, the Irish cardboard packaging group, spiked yesterday after the firm reported better-than-expected results for the first half of the year. Operating profit at Smurfit Kappa, which floated in Dublin in March 2007, rose four per cent to €312m (£244m) despite rising energy costs and increased competition from US rivals benefiting from [...]
Triple blow for battered UK economy August 12, 2008 Retail sales and housing market suffer as struggling consumers rein in spending Britain’s battered economy will be dealt a triple whammy today, with fresh evidence that the housing market and consumer spending are continuing to contract and that manufacturers are being hammered by soaring costs. This summer has been the worst on the high street [...]
MPs jump on Brown’s fuel rebate plans August 11, 2008 Gordon Brown’s plans for a fuel rebate for all families on child benefit were rubbished yesterday for being “indiscriminate”, with the payment set to help the rich as well as the poor. It emerged yesterday that the Prime Minister is mulling proposals to give £150 to the 7m families who receive child benefit, to help [...]
IMF cuts growth forecasts August 7, 2008 The International Monetary Fund yesterday cut its forecasts for the next two years and warned it wouldn’t “take much of a shock” for growth to become negative. It now predicts that the economy will grow by 1.4 per cent in 2008 and 1.1 per cent in 2009 – well below the 1.75 per cent it [...]
Drax profit falls on high carbon charge August 6, 2008 Drax, which runs Britain’s biggest coal-fired power station, saw its first half pre-tax profits fall 28 per cent yesterday to £206m as rising fuel and carbon emissions charges bit into its higher power prices. The large coal fired power station near Selby, Yorkshire, which produces around 7 per cent of Britain’s electricity, said sales rose [...]